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The passing of the 1899 Criminal Code, a tax on liquor among other things, heightened the cry for Alaskan representation in Congress,[1] and the debate finally ended on August 24, 1912, when the Alaska Territory became an organized, incorporated territory of the United States.

The Second Organic Act of 1912, renamed the District of Alaska as the Territory of Alaska.[2] By 1916, its population was about 58,000. James Wickersham, a Delegate to Congress, introduced Alaska’s first statehood bill, but it failed due to lack of interest from Alaskans. Even President Warren G. Harding‘s visit in 1923 could not create widespread interest in statehood. Under the conditions of the Second Organic Act, Alaska had been split into four divisions. The most populous of the divisions, whose capital was Juneau, wondered if it could become a separate state from the other three. Government control was a primary concern, with the territory having 52 federal agencies governing it.

Then, in 1920, the Seattle prior to further shipment, making Alaska dependent on the state of Washington. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the provision of the Constitution saying one state should not hold sway over another’s commerce did not apply because Alaska was only a territory. The prices Seattle’s shipping businesses charged began to rise to take advantage of the situation.

The African-American farmers in Alaska, saying that the territory would offer full political rights, but racial prejudice and the belief that only those from northern states would make suitable colonists caused the proposal to fail.

The exploration and settlement of Alaska would not have been possible without the development of the aircraft, which allowed for the influx of settlers into the state’s interior, and rapid transportation of people and supplies throughout. However, due to the unfavorable weather conditions of the state, and high ratio of pilots-to-population, over 1700 Cold War.

Alaskan participation in World War II was one of great importance. From June 1942 until August 1943 the Japanese tried to invade the U.S. by way of the Aleutian island chain, in the Battle of the Aleutian Islands. This marked the second time since the War of 1812 that American soil was occupied by a foreign enemy, the first being the occupation of the island of Guam in December 1941, also by the Japanese. The Japanese were eventually repelled from the Aleutian Islands by a force of 34,000 troops.[3]

Eventually the U.S. government came to realize the vast potential of this land, and on January 3, 1959, Alaska became the 49th state. There was some delay because of concern by members of the national Republican Party that Alaska would elect Democratic Party members to Congress, in contrast to Hawaii, which was also a contender for statehood at the same time and thought to have Republican Party support.[4] In recent years these predictions have turned out to be just the opposite for both states.

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